PA - Margaret Martin, 19, Kingston, 21 December 1938

She was contacted about a secretarial position, was seen getting into a dark car with a heavyset man and her tortured corpse was found days later.

KINGSTON- A muskrat hunter made the gruesome discovery on the afternoon of Dec. 21, 1938.
In the icy waters of Keelersburg Creek in Northmoreland Township, Wyoming County, the 19-year-old sportsman spotted a bulky burlap bag. A hand stuck out of the sack.
Inside was the badly mutilated body of 19-year-old Margaret Martin of Kingston. A clothesline had been used to truss the body. She had been missing since Dec. 17.

Locals exchanged theories as to the identity of the murderer. Their suspects included Wyoming County&#8217;s mortician, a teacher at the technical college where Margaret had studied, a local assistant pastor, and a teenager who had had a crush on the young woman. Without evidence, however, such theories remained hearsay.

Pennsylvania authorities never close the cold cases in their archives. Unsolved homicides are reopened and reviewed annually. Nevertheless, Margaret&#8217;s is a case that has cooled significantly since the murder first shocked the community nearly 80 years ago. Police are skeptical that her killer will ever be caught, if he is even still alive.